SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP), With its first major deadline in the past, California's health insurance exchange is urging the thousands of people who enrolled for coverage to take the next step and pay for it.

Premiums are due by Jan. 6 for policies starting in the new year. Those who missed the cutoff will have three months to get coverage before the federal tax penalty kicks in under the federal health care law.

Anne Gonzales, spokeswoman for the agency running the state's health exchange, says it's important for people to realize that their policies will not take effect simply because they enrolled for coverage. They need to pay the first month's premium to the insurance company they selected.

The latest tally from Covered California, released Friday, shows 428,000 people have signed up for coverage.